Our tune is called Awkward
by flamingosarepeopletoo
Summary: After months of awkward tension between her and Zeref at their oboe lessons, Mavis finally decides enough is enough. Zervis. One Shot.


**Just a short little one shot I wrote for my favorite Fairy Tail ship. ;) A lot of this was based on a real life experience I had, but you don't have to keep that in mind.**

 **Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think in the reviews.**

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Mavis stared in awe at the boy sitting next to her as he played the next measure with ease. His fingers slid across his oboe, perfectly slurring the notes when needed and tonguing when coming down an octave. Her eyes widened in delight when he finally released his lips from his reed with an audible _pop_ and flipped the page over to continue the phrase.

Her fingers itched in anticipation as she gripped her own oboe with both hands. The silver keys glared tauntingly at her as her partner finally got to the bar where she always messed up.

It was an accented note that tied into a chromatic bar in less than half a beat. Something like that seemed reasonable enough, but Mavis always found it painfully difficult to get right. Her eyes lit up as the boy easily flew right through the measure and onto the next bar.

Mavis sulked, tightening her hold on her instrument and beginning to do fingerings without making a sound. She slowed her fingers down as she got to the difficult bar and tried to make it move perfectly in tune with the rest of the notes.

"Very good, Zeref," the instructor said, nodding towards the black-haired boy. "Mavis? It's your turn."

Mavis sighed. She and Zeref had been in the same private oboe lesson for around two months now, yet she hadn't been able to get out a single word from him. These past few weeks were agonizingly painful for her, as the awkward air around the two of them never seemed to lessen.

Zeref was definitely a strange person from what she could tell. She heard that he got into many fights with people from rival schools but never took credit for any of them. There were multiple rumors around school about him, but Mavis tried hard not to pay any attention to them. After all, she knew better than to judge someone solely based on what other people said about them.

"Right," she said, licking her lips and placing them daintily on her reed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zeref turn to look at her. She saw his fingers take position on his own instrument, indicating that he was going to do fingerings along with her as she played. She silently prayed this runthrough wouldn't be a bad one.

As she began to play, she could suddenly feel the tension surrounding her get smaller and smaller. This always seemed to happen. It would be awkward for her before she played, but once she started playing, she would somehow forget about Zeref and the instructor, silently judging her playing for any sort of mistake.

Music was her heaven, and her oboe was living proof of her soul and entire existence.

When she got to the tough measure, she glanced up at Zeref, who was looking at her with something strange in his eyes. It was almost as if he was silently cheering her on without saying a thing.

She felt different this time, as she allowed her fingers to glide over the silver keys and ease up the chromatic scale she always had such difficulty playing.

When she released the final note, the instructor was looking at her with a big smile. "Great job, Mavis. You finally got it!" he said with an encouraging smile.

Mavis returned the smile, shooting Zeref another look. She found him to be highly engrossed in the sheet music on the stand they were sharing.

"I think we're set for one runthrough as a duet part," the instructor said thoughtfully. He pulled out another sheet of music, handing it to Zeref. "Zeref, why don't you take a look at this part, and Mavis will play the main melody."

"Is this the accompanist part?" Zeref asked, looking at the simple chords and notes.

The instructor nodded. "Yes. It's fairly simple so you should be able to sight read it. After we run through the entire piece once, you two will switch, and Mavis will play the accompanist part while you play the main melody."

Zeref said, "Okay," before sliding his oboe back into his fingers and beginning to quickly go over the notes. "I'm ready."

The instructor nodded, looking to Mavis for verification. Mavis only nodded, placing her mouth on her reed and getting ready to play the first measure.

Then, they played.

It wasn't like the other times they had played together. Mostly, it was them playing the same notes at the same time, but this time, they were relying on one another. If one of them messed up, the other would fall off track too.

Playing like this was so much _fun_. Mavis knew she would never forget the feeling of playing a melody behind a harmonical accompiant part. She was still so baffled that he could even play this well without properly going through it once.

Either it was extremely easy, or he was an extreme genius.

When they finished, Zeref held out his final note with a flourishing slow lift.

Mavis gaped at him.

"That was amazing, you two!" the instructor said, clapping his hands together. "Okay, switch parts!"

Mavis quickly took her sheet music and swapped it with Zeref's, immediately beginning to look over the part. It didn't seem to difficult, so Mavis didn't expect a hard time.

"I'm ready," she said with her usual high-pitched tone. The instructor nodded, lifting his hands to begin conducting.

On her queue, Mavis began to slowly play the notes that were written out for her. She was right. It really was a fairly easy part with a few thirds written in every two lines. Mavis didn't have any trouble with it, preferring to drown in the sound of Zeref's regular melody.

His music was so different from hers. While she played with a more lighthearted feeling, Zeref's music brought the mindset of impending doom and sadness. She liked to play her notes with a more upbeat sound, while he made sure to drag his notes out as much as it deemed acceptable. That didn't mean it sounded any less incredible, though. Zeref definitely knew what he was doing, and Mavis had no doubt about that.

As they finished, the instructor nodded, clearly happy with the sounds they had just produced.

"Very nice job, you two," he congratulated them. "Alright. Make sure to run through the piece a few times a day for next week, so we can begin going over the dynamic patterns in more depth. Good work today."

Mavis knew what that meant. The lesson was officially over. She quickly thanked the instructor as he left the room, leaving Mavis and Zeref alone together in the small practice room.

She coughed once, beginning to feel the awkward tension around them once again. It wasn't like she _wanted_ their relationship to be like this. In fact, he was in her year at school and she passed him in the hallways on more than a few occasions. They hadn't said anything to one another, though. They _never_ said anything to each other. Ever.

In fact, Mavis had never even said more than two words in a row to Zeref. He was just so hard to talk to.

Usually, Mavis was pretty good with making friends. Everyone knew her as one of the friendliest people in the school. But Zeref was different. She didn't know exactly why, but it was hard for her to start a conversation with him.

As they disassembled their instruments, Mavis stole a few glances at him. He had on a completely expressionless face as he too put his mouthpiece back into his oboe case and began to snap it shut.

Mavis gulped. She was done with this. She couldn't stand the awkward tension around them anymore.

She had to do something.

She wouldn't be seeing him at class for another seven days, so why not wish him a nice week? That seemed safe enough, right? Surely he would respond kindly to a simple gesture like that.

She ran her fingers through her ridiculously long golden hair, mentally preparing herself for what was about to come.

With a deep breath, she sucked up enough courage to say it.

"H-have a nice week, Zeref!"

He didn't seem to notice her stutter. Or maybe he did, but he didn't react to it. His face remained expressionless as he answered her.

He locked eyes with her before saying, "You too."

Mavis smiled in content, feeling strangely satisfied with his answer. Of course, it was the first thing he had ever directly said to her, so it was natural for her to feel happy about it.

A wide grin broke out on her features, something he definitely did not fail to notice. Zeref didn't do anything after that, just stared at her as she quickly turned and walked to the front door.

Mavis grinned to herself, knowing she wouldn't have to be awkward around him anymore. Now maybe she'd be able to talk to him at school, or shoot him a smile or wave whenever she passed him in the hallway, or saw him at lunch.

She couldn't wait for class next week.


End file.
